Avenue Of Kings

A Sikh boy is set aflame in the chaotic aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination; a house party rages in Calcutta while the country mourns the fading dream of Rajiv Gandhi; a young Muslim boy contemplates answering the call of militant fundamentalism in the wake of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. But somewhere in the debris of recent history lies a resolute hope. Through this journeys Brandy Ray, wanderer, cynic, journalist-and incurable romantic. As ‘New India’ delights and disappoints in turn, Brandy grapples with his own life-his deeply passionate and tumultuous relationship with the lovely yet slipping-away Suya, his conflicts with his father, the joy of travels with friends and the trauma of them losing their way. In these three edgy, touching novellas-The Avenue of Kings, The Cradle of Innocents and The Well of Three Wishes-that form interlinked narratives, Sudeep Chakravarti takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride, a journey of aspiration, longing, betrayal… and the sheer joy of being alive. Imbued with wry wit and keen insight, The Avenue of Kings, the long-awaited sequel to Tin Fish, is a brilliant portrait of a country dealing with change.

Sudeep Chakravarti is the author of Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country (2008, 2009), a work of narrative non-fiction about India’s ongoing Maoist rebellion that was short-listed for the Vodafone Crossword Non-fiction Award 2008. He is also the author of three novels. Tin Fish, his best-selling debut novel, was published in 2005; it was republished by HarperCollins in 2011. The Avenue of Kings, the sequel, was published to critical acclaim in 2010. His third novel, Once Upon a Time in Aparanta (2008), a dark satire, will soon be republished as an e-book. Sudeep attended Mayo College, Ajmer, and St. Stephen’s College, Delhi. He began a career in journalism at The Asian Wall Street Journal, and subsequently held senior positions at Sunday, India Today and HT Media. His media writing has been widely published, including in India Today, AWSJ, The Outlook Group of Publications, Hindustan Times, Mint, Forbes, Business World, Die Zeit, Rolling Stone and OPEN. His short fiction, and essays on conflict, are included in several collections. Sudeep is a professional member of the World Future Society, Washington DC, and member of Coastal Impact, a not-for-profit he co-founded with fellow scuba diving enthusiasts. He lives in Goa.